Replacement BattleLore Flags Arrived

Back on 15 July I took up Days of Wonder's offer to replace the incorrect flags shipped with my (actually, every) copy of the BattleLore: Goblin Marauders Specialist Pack. On 22 July Days of Wonder sent me an email advising the parts had shipped. They arrived today on 28 July in Brisbane, Australia.

Great customer service from Days of Wonder

Gaming With Grandma - 71

Another Saturday morning of playing games with my mother (AKA Grandma) and my 7 year-old daughter Maddie.

I'd received a discounted Heroscape Marvel: The Conflict Begins in the mail yesterday and was keen to try it out. While Grandma and I were sitting down enjoying a cup of tea Maddie couldn't restrain her eagerness for setting up all the Heroscape terrain again as we'd done last week. It's interesting from my perspective to observe Maddie's impatience to immediately start playing games as soon as Grandma walks in the door. I remember when I was kid feeling the same way. Sometimes grown-ups can take forever to get around to doing things, and why were they always so tired when I had heaps of energy? Well now, as a tired grown-up myself, I can finally understand.

I love the artwork on the front of the box

We decided to set up the Marvel Heroscape (or Marvelscape as it's also known) on the dining room table. Marvelscape is a stand-alone game using the Heroscape rules and set in the Marvel comic universe. It contains rules, dice, order markers, terrain and figures. I was very impressed with the ten plastic pre-painted superhero miniatures. They were well-sculpted and well-painted. I was less impressed with the amount of terrain in the box. It has much less terrain than that included in the original Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie. However, Marvelscape is essentially a two-player game and the small battlefield is adequate for that purpose.

The ten figures included are (superheroes) Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Incredible Hulk, and (supervillains) Thanos, Red Skull, Doctor Doom, Venom and Abomination. I must point out that I was only familiar with Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk. I was vaguely aware of Captain America, and had recently seen Iron Man, Silver Surfer and Venom in advertisements for movies, but knew nothing about Thanos, Red Skull, Doctor Doom and Abomination. In the expectation of the arrival of this game I'd borrowed several Marvel graphic novels from the library as well as rented out The Hulk, and the Spiderman series on DVD. This game has got me enthused for exploring the Marvel (and DC) comic universes further.

It would be myself, Wayne (AKA Dad), versus Maddie (with advice from her Grandma who had a bit of a cold and was fine with just sitting back and watching). The battlefield I created was the triangular map from the initial scenario. I let Maddie choose whatever three characters she wanted. She chose Spider-Man, the Hulk and Silver Surfer. I chose the supervillains Venom, the Abomination and Red Skull.

Our teams started on opposing corners of the triangular battlefield with the ruined warehouse in front of the third corner.

The starting positions viewed from my side of the battlefield

Turn 1 - Maddie gets initiative with a roll of 19. I rolled an 8.

Order 1
Maddie - Spider-Man races towards the only elevated piece of terrain available - the ruined warehouse.
Wayne - Venom sees what his arch-enemy Spidey is up to so he sprints to the warehouse in an effort to gain the heights before him.

Order 2
Maddie - The Hulk uses his special ability of Super Leap to jump 10 hexes to land right beside Venom who has just reached the warehouse. Hulk smashes Venom [rolls 3 hits vs 1 defense for 2 damage. Venom has a special ability called Spider-Sense which if he is attacked and at least one skull is rolled, allows him to evade all damage if he rolls 14 or higher on a d20. Unfortunately I rolled below 14 on this occasion].

"Hulk smash Venom!"

Wayne - Venom recoils from the blow and lashes back at his attacker [rolls 5 hits vs 3 defense for 2 damage]. Hulk just gets more angry [Hulk has a special ability called Rage Smash in which every hit he takes gives him an extra attack die (up to a maximum of 5 extra dice)].

Order 3
Maddie - Silver Surfer zooms towards Red Skull and the Abomination who have not as yet moved. He does a Cosmic Force Blast at Abomination [rolls 3 hits versus 1 defense for 2 hits. If Silver Surfer causes at least one hit with his Cosmic Force Blast and rolls 16 or higher on a d20 he may remove one of the order markers from his target. In this instance Maddie rolled below 16].

Sliver Surfer uses his Cosmic Force Blast against Abomination

Wayne - Abomination, reeling somewhat from the attack, launches himself at Silver Surfer [rolls 2 hits vs 1 defense for 1 damage].

Turn 2 - Maddie gains the initiative once again with a roll of 15. I rolled 11.

Order 1
Maddie - Silver Surfer decides to help the Hulk in destroying Venom. He flies towards the battling duo in front of the warehouse and fires a Cosmic Force Blast at Venom which has no effect [rolls 3 hits but Venom rolls a 20 for his Spider-Sense which meant he took no damage].

Silver Surfer attacks Venom with a Cosmic Force Blast but to no avail

Wayne - Venom uses his special ability of Swing Line to move to the top of the warehouse [Swing Line allows Venom to move up to a maximum of 4 spaces and ignore elevation to a height of 40 levels up or down]. He then does a Web Special Attack against the Hulk [rolls 1 hit vs 2 defense for no damage].

Order 2
Maddie - The Hulk is pretty mad at Venom after getting hit in the previous turn. He leaps up after Venom to the top of the warehouse and punches him [rolls 3 hits vs 1 defense for 2 damage. Venom fails his Spider-Sense with a roll of 12].

"Hulk mad!"

Wayne - Red Skull moves towards the warehouse to help Venom. He shoots at Silver Surfer but misses [rolls 2 hits vs 2 defense for no damage. I forget to use Red Skull's Dust of Doom special ability].

Order 3
Maddie - Spider-Man moves towards Red Skull and does his Web Special Attack which misses [rolls 2 hits vs 2 defense for no damage].
Wayne - Abomination uses his special ability of Super Leap to jump to land right beside Silver Surfer. He swings and connects with a glancing blow [rolls 3 hits vs 2 defense for 1 damage].

Abomination attacks Silver Surfer

Turn 3 - I win initiative with a roll of 16. Maddie rolled 13.

Order 1
Wayne - Venom has taken a pounding from the Hulk [only has 1 life remaining] so Swing Lines to the ground in front of the warehouse and fires a Web Special Attack at Silver Surfer [rolls 1 hit vs 4 defense for no damage].
Maddie - Silver Surfer flies away and fires a Cosmic Force Blast at Venom at extreme range [rolls 3 hits. Venom fails his Spider-Sense roll with a 6. Venom rolls 2 defense and takes 1 damage]. Venom is killed.

Order 2
Wayne - Red Skull rushes forward and uses his special Dust of Death ability on the Hulk [if he rolls 19 or higher on a d20 the enemy is dead. Red Skull rolls an 18! Aaaargh! Just one more point and Hulk would have been dead. In my frustration I forget to take my normal attack].
Maddie - Hulk jumps down from the warehouse and attacks Abomination [5 hits vs 4 defense for 1 damage].

Order 3
Wayne - Abomination punches Hulk [rolls 2 hits vs 0 defense for 2 damage]. Hulk gets more angry [as he's taken 4 damage he gets to roll an extra 4 attack dice].
Maddie - Spider-Man moves close to Red Skull to attack [rolls 2 hits vs 2 defense for no damage].

Superhero melee

Turn 4 - I retain initiative with a roll of 12. Maddie rolled a 4.

Order 1
Wayne - Abomination punches Hulk [rolls 3 hits vs 2 defense for 1 damage. Hulk is now as mad as he's gonna get with 5 extra attack dice. Uh-oh!]
Maddie - Spider-Man attacks Red Skull with a flurry of kicks and punches [rolls 2 hits vs 0 defense for 2 damage]

Order 2
Wayne - Red Skull uses his special power of Master Manipulator on Abomination [allows Red Skull to use his order to move and attack with any friendly Unique Hero]. Abomination swings at Hulk but misses [rolls 2 hits vs 3 defense for no damage].
Maddie - Hulk is super mad and smashes Abomination [this is the moment I'd been fearing. Maddie gets to roll 11 dice for her attack]

The most dice I've ever seen about to be rolled in a single attack in a game of Heroscape

I take a deep breath as Maddie raises her hand above the dice tower. My heart is racing as she lets the dice fall and they rattle their way through the tower and come bouncing into the tray at the bottom. What will be the fate of Abomination?

She rolls 9 hits on 11 dice!!!

Hulk almost knocks Abomination's head right off with a mighty smash of his huge fists. Abomination falls dead at Hulk's feet.

"Hulk kill!"

Order 3
Wayne - My third order was on Abomination. As he's dead the order is wasted.
Maddie - Silver Surfer flies towards the sole remaining supervillain, Red Skull. He fires off another Cosmic Force Blast [rolls 3 hits vs 1 defense for 1 damage. Red Skull on has 2 life remaining].

Red Skull is wetting his pants about now...

Turn 5 - I again win initiative with a roll of 6. Maddie rolled a 1.

Order 1
Wayne - Red Skull uses Dust of Death on Spider-Man to no effect [rolled a 12]. He then shoots at Spider-Man [rolls 3 hits but Spider-Man's Spider Sense roll of 12 saves him from any damage. Spider-Man only needs an 11 or higher on a d20 to take no damage from an attack].
Maddie - Hulk attacks Red Skull and smashes him into the ground with a mighty blow [rolls 4 hits vs 0 defense for 4 damage]. Red Skull is dead.

Good prevails

The forces of good prevail with no losses. Maddie does a victory dance and I give her a high-five. She played well and rolled well. Even though I lost I really enjoyed the game. Sure, there is a high luck factor, but Marvelscape is very thematic and most of all fun. I can see us playing this again soon.

Tough Choices...

My prize for winning the Osprey Birthday Blog Competition was to select 12 books from the list of titles that they had published over the last 12 months. The easy part was winning the competition - the hard part will be to choose just 12 from the whopping 141 titles Osprey have published in the last year!

I'll reveal my selection in a future entry after they've been delivered.

Here are the choices.

978 1 84603 179 3 ACE 77 Albatros Aces of World War 1 Part 2
978 1 84603 180 9 ACE 78 SE 5/5a Aces of World War I
978 1 84603 201 1 ACE 79 Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I
978 1 84603 202 8 ACE 80 American Spitfire Aces of World War 2
978 1 84603 298 1 ACE 81 Griffon Spitfire Aces
978 1 84603 299 8 ACE 82 Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War
978 1 84603 203 5 AEU 26 Jagdstaffel 2 ‘Boelcke’ Von Richthofen’s Mentor
978 1 84603 204 2 AEU 25 Jagdgeschwader 53 'Pik-As'
978 1 84603 294 3 AEU 27 Jagdverband 44 Squadron of Experten
978 1 84603 309 4 AEU 28 USAS 1st Pursuit Group
978 1 84603 006 2 BTO 23 Desert Raiders: Axis and Allied Special Forces 1940–43
978 1 84603 111 3 BTO 29 The British Army on the Western Front 1916
978 1 84603 138 0 BTO 31 The Royal Navy 1793–1815
978 1 84603 139 7 BTO 30 Mobile Strike Forces in Vietnam 1966–70
978 1 84603 144 1 BTO 28 Desert Rats British 8th Army in North Africa 1941–43
978 1 84603 146 5 BTO 32 Panzer Divisions: The Blitzkrieg Years 1939–40
978 1 84603 239 4 BTO 33 The US Army in the Vietnam War 1965–73
978 1 84176 180 0 CAM 188 Thermopylae 480 BC Last stand of the 300
978 1 84603 028 4 CAM 184 Stalingrad 1942
978 1 84603 033 8 CAM 176 Philadelphia 1777 Taking the capital
978 1 84603 078 9 CAM 185 Naseby 1645 The triumph of the New Model Army
978 1 84603 099 4 CAM 182 Granicus 334 BC Alexander’s First Persian Victory
978 1 84603 107 6 CAM 186 Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3) Army Group Center
978 1 84603 147 2 CAM 187 Cambrai 1917 The birth of armoured warfare
978 1 84603 221 9 CAM 189 Sevastopol 1942 Von Manstein’s triumph
978 1 84603 230 1 CAM 190 Poitiers AD 732 Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide
978 1 84603 231 8 CAM 191 Vienna 1683 Christian Europe repels the Ottomans
978 1 84603 245 5 CAM 193 London 1914–17 The Zeppelin Menace
978 1 84603 246 2 CAM 194 Liberation of Paris 1944 Patton’s race for the Seine
978 1 84603 258 5 CAM 195 Syracuse 415–413 BC Destruction of the Athenian Imperial Fleet
978 1 84603 264 6 CAM 196 Gazala 1942 Rommel's greatest victory
978 1 84603 285 1 CAM 192 New York 1776 The Continentals’ first battle
978 1 84603 303 2 CAM 197 Amiens 1918 The Black Day of the German Army
978 1 84603 213 4 CMP Struggle for a vast future The American Civil War
978 1 84603 216 5 CMP Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land The Vietnam War Revisited
978 1 84603 281 3 CMP Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare
978 1 84176 911 0 COM 62 US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War
978 1 84603 205 9 COM 70 F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Enduring Freedom
978 1 84603 296 7 COM 71 Il-2 Shturmovik Guards Units of World War 2
978 1 84603 133 5 DUE 3 U-boats vs Destroyer Escorts The Battle of the Atlantic
978 1 84603 134 2 DUE 9 Victory vs Redoutable Ships of the line at Trafalgar 1805
978 1 84603 149 6 DUE 4 Panther vs T-34 Ukraine 1943p
978 1 84603 150 2 DUE 2 Sherman Firefly vs Tiger Normandy 1944
978 1 84603 189 2 DUE 1 P-51 Mustang vs Fw 190 Europe 1943–45
978 1 84603 190 8 DUE 5 Spitfire vs Bf 109 Battle of Britain
978 1 84603 248 6 DUE 6 USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers The Pacific 1942
978 1 84603 261 5 DUE 10 M3 Medium Tank vs Panzer III Kasserine Pass 1943
978 1 84603 293 6 DUE 7 Sopwith Camel vs Fokker Dr I Western Front 1917–18
978 1 84603 295 0 DUE 8 P-40 Warhawk vs Ki-43 Oscar China 1944–45
978 1 84603 072 7 ELI 158 African American Troops in World War II
978 1 84603 123 6 ELI 153 The Australian Army in World War II
978 1 84603 137 3 ELI 156 World War II Combat Reconnaissance Tactics
978 1 84603 184 7 ELI 155 Roman Battle Tactics 109BC–AD313
978 1 84603 185 4 ELI 157 The German Home Front 1939–45
978 1 84603 191 5 ELI 160 World War II Infantry Assault Tactics
978 1 84603 208 0 ELI 161 The US Home Front 1941–45
978 1 84603 222 6 ELI 164 British Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792–1815
978 1 84603 278 3 ELI 159 French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792–1815
978 1 84603 283 7 ELI 165 The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II
978 1 84603 290 5 ELI 162 World War II Desert Tactics
978 1 84603 313 1 FOG Field of Glory Rulebook Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules
978 1 84603 344 5 FOG 1 Rise of Rome Field of Glory Republican Rome Army List
978 1 84603 345 2 FOG 2 Storm of Arrows Field of Glory late Medieval Army List
978 1 84603 346 9 FOG 3 Immortal Fire Field of Glory Greek, Persian and Macedonian Army List
978 1 84603 347 6 FOG 4 Swords and Scimitars Field of Glory The Crusades Army List
978 1 84603 348 3 FOG 5 Legions Triumphant Imperial Rome at War
978 1 84603 027 7 FOR 64 The Castles of Edward I in Wales 1277–1307
978 1 84603 104 5 FOR 67 Japanese Castles in Korea 1592-98
978 1 84603 115 1 FOR 76 Saracen Strongholds AD 630–1050 The Middle East and Central Asia
978 1 84603 129 8 FOR 63 The Atlantic Wall (1) France
978 1 84603 130 4 FOR 66 The Castles of Henry VIII
978 1 84603 171 7 FOR 65 The Forts of Judaea 168 BC–AD 73 From the Maccabees to the Fall of Masada
978 1 84603 193 9 FOR 69 The Berlin Wall and the Intra-German Border 1961-89
978 1 84603 194 6 FOR 68 American Civil War Fortifications (3) The Mississippi and River Forts
978 1 84603 197 7 FOR 70 Strongholds of the Border Reivers Fortifications of the Anglo-Scottish Border 1296–1603
978 1 84603 198 4 FOR 71 The Walls of Rome
978 1 84603 207 3 FOR 73 Hittite Fortifications c.1650-700 BC
978 1 84603 247 9 FOR 72 German V-Weapon Sites 1943–45
978 1 84603 253 0 FOR 74 Japanese Castles AD 250–1540
978 1 84603 255 4 FOR 75 The Forts of New France in Northeast America 1600–1763
978 1 84603 052 9 GHI 12 Deadly Inferno Battle of the Wilderness
978 1 84603 056 7 GHI 9 The Tide Turns D-Day Invasion
978 1 84603 057 4 GHI 11 Hitler’s Last Gamble Battle of the Bulge
978 1 84135 524 5 GNA Aircraft of the Aces: Legends of the Skies (CO-ED)
978 1 84603 169 4 GNA F-15 Eagle Engaged The world's most successful jet fighter
978 1 84176 979 0 GNM Sniper A History of the US Marksman
978 1 84603 095 6 GNM Brushes and Bayonets Cartoons, sketches and paintings of World War I
978 1 84603 148 9 GNM Military Misdemeanours Corruption, incompetence, lust and downright stupidity
978 1 84603 175 5 GNM FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition Soldier Slang of World War II
978 1 84603 176 2 GNM FUBAR F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition Soldier Slang of World War II
978 1 84603 195 3 GNM Hitler’s War on Russia
978 1 84603 196 0 GNM Airborne World War II Paratroopers in combat
978 1 84603 210 3 GNM War on the Western Front In the Trenches of World War I
978 1 84603 217 2 GNM The Enemy Within A History of Spies, Spymasters and Espionage
978 1 84603 219 6 GNM Empires Collide The French and Indian War 1754-63
978 1 84603 224 0 GNM SAS Heroes Remarkable Soldiers, Extraordinary Men
978 1 84603 225 7 GNM Tools of Violence Guns, Tanks and Dirty Bombs
978 1 84603 288 2 GNM The Yom Kippur War The Arab-Israeli War of 1973
978 1 84603 311 7 GNM Who Dares Wins Special Forces Heroes of the SAS
978 1 84603 328 5 GNM Alexander the Great at War His Army - His Battles - His Enemies
978 1 84603 335 3 GNM Hell in the Pacific The Battle for Iwo Jima
978 1 84603 336 0 GNM Rome and Her Enemies An Empire Created and Destroyed by War
978 1 84603 340 7 GNM The Vikings Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder
978 1 84603 342 1 GNM Knight Noble Warrior of England 1200–1600
978 1 84603 014 7 MAA 445 Medieval Polish Armies 966–1500
978 1 84603 186 1 MAA 439 The Canadian Corps in World War I
978 1 84603 187 8 MAA 441 The Confederate Army 1861–65 (5) Tennessee & North Carolina
978 1 84603 188 5 MAA 446 The Confederate Army 1861–65 (6) Missouri, Kentucky & Maryland
978 1 84603 223 3 MAA 442 Queen Victoria’s Highlanders
978 1 84603 256 1 MAA 440 Napoleon’s Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard
978 1 84603 257 8 MAA 444 Napoleon’s Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard
978 1 84176 941 7 MOD 34 Modelling the P-51 Mustang
978 1 84603 110 6 MOD 39 Modelling the F4F Wildcat
978 1 84603 112 0 MOD 38 Modelling the Late Panzerkampfwagen IV
978 1 84603 120 5 MOD 40 Modelling the US Army M4 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank
978 1 84603 170 0 MOD 37 Modelling the Tiger I
978 1 84603 237 0 MOD 41 Modelling Scale Aircraft
978 1 84176 975 2 MST Advanced Terrain Modelling
978 1 84176 852 6 NVG 116 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
978 1 84603 083 3 NVG 136 Churchill Crocodile Flamethrower
978 1 84603 084 0 NVG 139 Sherman Crab Flail Tank
978 1 84603 090 1 NVG 135 Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45
978 1 84603 091 8 NVG 137 Japanese Tanks 1939–45
978 1 84603 168 7 NVG 138 US Nuclear Submarines: The Fast Attack
978 1 84603 242 4 NVG 140 Armored Trains
978 1 84603 251 6 NVG 142 Tudor Warships (1) Henry VIII’s Navy
978 1 84603 267 7 NVG 143 US Cruisers 1883–1904 The birth of the steel navy
978 1 84603 277 6 NVG 141 Sherman Firefly
978 1 84603 334 6 NVG 145 British Submarines of World War I
978 1 84603 075 8 WAR 124 Teutonic Knight 1190–1561
978 1 84603 076 5 WAR 117 French Resistance Fighter France's Secret Army
978 1 84603 077 2 WAR 115 Condottiere 1300–1500 Infamous medieval mercenaries
978 1 84603 081 9 WAR 120 Hittite Warrior
978 1 84603 105 2 WAR 118 Byzantine Infantryman Eastern Roman Empire c.900-1204
978 1 84603 106 9 WAR 121 Soldier of the Pharaoh Middle Kingdom Egypt 2055–1650 BC
978 1 84603 125 0 WAR 119 American Bomber Crewman 1941–45
978 1 84603 127 4 WAR 123 Soviet Rifleman 1941-45
978 1 84603 174 8 WAR 125 Pirate of the Far East 811-1639
978 1 84603 229 5 WAR 128 US Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam
978 1 84603 269 1 WAR 127 Native American Code Talker in World War II
978 1 84603 274 5 WAR 126 Highlander in the French-Indian War 1756–67

So what 12 titles would you have selected? And why?